Donetick vs TaskLite
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted project management & tasks options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Donetick
Shared chore and task management for households and teams
VS
TaskLite
Productivity tool and CLI to manage tasks and projects
| Feature | Donetick | TaskLite |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 86 · Excellent | 67 · Good |
| Category | Project Management & Tasks | Project Management & Tasks |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Go | Elm |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,582 | ★ 291 |
| First released | 2024 | 2019 |
| Replaces | Todoist, Tody | Todoist, Things |
What are Donetick and TaskLite?
Donetick
Donetick is an open-source app for managing tasks and chores with assignment rotations and reminders. It is ideal for households and small teams sharing responsibilities.
- Chore assignment rotations
- Recurring task scheduling
- Reminders and notifications
- Single lightweight binary
TaskLite
TaskLite is an open-source command-line task manager backed by an SQLite database. It supports tags, priorities, due dates, and notes for organizing work from the terminal.
- CLI task manager
- SQLite backed
- Tags and priorities
- Due dates and notes
Donetick vs TaskLite: key differences
Donetick is written in Go, while TaskLite is built with Elm. TaskLite is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 128 MB for Donetick. TaskLite is the more established project (first released 2019), while Donetick arrived in 2024. Donetick has the considerably larger community, at 2,582 GitHub stars versus 291. Donetick lists first-class Docker deployment; TaskLite does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Donetick if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (2.6k GitHub stars)
Choose TaskLite if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Written in Elm
- Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Donetick or TaskLite better?
Neither is universally better. Donetick has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Donetick and TaskLite free and open-source?
Yes. Donetick is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and TaskLite under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Donetick and TaskLite with Docker?
Donetick: yes. TaskLite: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Donetick or TaskLite?
TaskLite has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 128 MB for Donetick. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.